If we are going to discuss the effectiveness of federal policies in our cities -- and we should -- it is time to discuss as well why some states continue to benefit systemically to the disadvantage of others, with little or no benefit to show for it in terms of relative progress as measured by socio-economic indicators.

Reagan charged up the hill of Big Gov't - now it's Obama turn on Big Inequality. Lowry & vanden Heuvel debate whether that's the "defining challenge" of our era and if government can do anything about higher executive pay, lower worker wages. Then: is Boehner's tantrum a one-off or a strategy?

I don't think Trayvon Martin was some angelic youth, nor do I think he was perfect. What 17 year old boy is? I know from first hand experience teenage boys can be a loud, unruly bunch that gets into fights, make mistakes and do stupid things which hopefully they'll be able to live to regret.

I can certainly understand the phenomenon of Republican "poll denial." Six years ago, I was a staunch supporter of Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Kerry Healey, the Republican opponent of Democrat Deval Patrick.

It's almost cliche to write this, but this is classic George Orwell by way of Karl Rove. Up is down, black is white, Republicans will save Medicare while Democrats, who invented it and who have fought to sustain it at all costs, want to suddenly destroy it.

When Obama's agenda began to peter out under the weight of Republican obstructionism and his own tendency to play it safe, it was the Democratic base that worked the hardest trying to prevent him from falling.

Fox News' first segment on James O'Keefe's arrest was as funny as it was disappointing. During the report, Tim Gaughan called the news a "very weird story that probably needs a lot of context and a lot of looking into."

There will be a civil war in the Republican Party, between the people who believe the Party has gone too far to the right, and the people who believe that the Party just had the wrong messenger this time.